Recommendations for CO backpacking trip

PostedDec 2, 2008 at 9:49 am

Some "wishes" (but not necessarily requirements)

1. Lots of water (lakes or streams)
2. Good trout fishing (fly or spinning)
3. Realtively isolated
4. Peakbagging opportunities
5. Good high elevation scenery

Trip will probably be 6 days
Like to average 10-15 miles/day
We may (or may not) bring the dogs

I have heard good things about the Weminuche Wilderness Area, but I am open to ANY suggestions in CO. Thank you for your input.

Brian Barnes BPL Member

PostedDec 2, 2008 at 10:38 am

I haven't been but hear good things about the flat tops wilderness area. Seems to meet your criteria.

Peter Sustr BPL Member

PostedDec 3, 2008 at 12:40 pm

What time of year are you going? I have a couple of ideas if you can tell when you want to go.

Ryan Luke

PostedDec 3, 2008 at 6:56 pm

We are going to shoot for mid to late June, but if your area has an ideal time our schedule is flexible enough to adjust.

Thanks!

David Palmer BPL Member

PostedDec 4, 2008 at 3:39 pm

If you want good high elevation trout fishing, July or August are probably better bets in my opinion.

Jed Augustine BPL Member

PostedDec 4, 2008 at 5:12 pm

Take a look at the Elk Mountain range. I did an Outward Bound course there (my intro to lightweight backpacking!) and thought it was wonderfully beautiful. There are a heap of peaks out there, the beautiful Maroon Bells among them. I think Snowmass mountain is the highest you can bag without getting technical. We only did something like 60 miles over 18 days, but you could definitly get a lot more out of the area than we did.

Here's a taste! For what its worth, these photos were taken from late June to mid-July after a low snow winter. The only ones I have on this compûter seem to be taken at sunset or sunrise…

Treasury Mountain, maybe